My almost 19-month-old has a huge vocabulary. She doesn't, however, ask to eat. She sometimes asks for specific foods--mainly jellybeans and her gummy vitamins :p--but she doesn't say she's hungry or that she wants to eat. Instead, she asks for milkies. Similarly, when she's tired, she will occasionally tell me she wants to sleep, but she usually just asks for milkies. The thing is, I can tell when she's tired. I can't always tell when she's hungry, and she needs to eat more; she's skinny and has only gained one pound since she turned one, and I think if I put food in front of her more often she might eat it. I wind up doing this whole dance routine: She asks to nurse, I sit down to nurse her, she nurses for ten seconds and then wanders away, I realize that she actually meant she was hungry, I get up to fix her/us something to eat while she hangs around my knees asking for milkies....

It's not a huge deal, but I feel like I can't read her cues, or maybe *she* can't tell what hunger feels like, and all she knows is that milkies make her tummy feel better?

We do this to some degree, but we live in a carpeted apartment, and I am really tired of finding bits of dried fruit and cookie crumbs and stuff all over the house. The other day we lost track of her sippy cup of tomato soup! Found it the next day (under a chair), but of course it had to be trashed (the soup, not the cup).

When my kids were that little I had snack and meal times. If the kids didn't eat what I served when I served it then they waited until the next meal (and at 19 months old my younger son was still nursing).

I also have rules about there food and drink can be consumed. All drinks stay at the table. If you want a drink you must go to it, it does not go with you (this is a rule I wish I had started sooner, I did not like finding days old milk in sippy cups). With food it is either at the table and occationally on the futon. Keeps messes confined to two areas which helps so much.

hmm. we had a similar problem. i would just ask her if she wanted mummas or snacks. sometimes she'll just ask for a banana because it's a food she can say, even if she doesn't really want a banana. she still rarely asks for food, but if i ask her before nursing her she'll usually say which one she wants.